Some Can't, Won't Flee Gustav

As Gustav roars toward the Gulf Coast, and New Orleans’ mayor calls it “the storm of the century,” there are some in the city who can’t—or simply won’t—evacuate. “Most people don’t have cars to leave, don’t have money for gas. Pay for a hotel for that long? I guess I’m gonna stay and work,” a 26-year-old dishwasher tells CNN.

“I don’t leave for nothing,” said a man who’s worked in the French Quarter since 1985. “I didn’t even leave for Katrina.” But for some, even those with the means, leaving New Orleans just 3 years after Katrina forced them out is simply too much to bear. “I am in love” with this city, said an antique store owner who had briefly relocated to Houston. “And so I make my choice.” (More Hurricane Gustav stories.)